I Heart Early Intervention

Some of you know my youngest son, who turned 2 in August, is in Early Intervention. E.I. is a state funded program for children under the age of 3 who have developmental delays, whether it be speech, cognitive and/or different levels of Autism. I had heard of the program, but didn't really understand it until my son got involved with them. I thought it was more geared towards kids with Autism (which at the time I had NO understanding of).

Let me start by saying that my older son, who turned 5 in August (2 August boys is so incredibly convenient, let me tell you), was able to have full conversations by his second birthday. I mean he could talk like you or me. He used hundreds of words and used them correctly at that. Being a first time mom, I didn't think anything of it. I just assumed that all kids were like that and went on with life.

So my second is born and he only had 1 or 2 words on his first birthday, which was not at all like his big brother, but I just figured he was starting late. By 18 months, when he still only had like 5 or 6 words, I contacted Early Intervention to have him evaluated to see if there was some sort of learning disability. At the time, which was last March, he tested over his age in cognitive abilities, but only tested in at a 9 month level for his speech. I knew it, but still to hear he was almost a year behind totally freaked me out. All this stuff started going through my mind. Was he always going to be behind? Was he Autistic? Would he be successful in life? And not to mention my first son, who apparently was really advanced, but how would I know that? He was my first baby and no one (the Pediatrician) never mentioned anything like that to me. So I am left thinking that there was something "wrong" with my baby.

Anyways, he qualified for services, and we got assigned a home teacher, who comes out once a week for an hour. Additionally, I put our names on a list to get into a group setting that they do once a week. Our home teacher, who I love, teaches him through play and has given me so much support, I can't even thank her enough. She has taught me so many tips and ways to help him develop his speech. We ended up getting into a group on Tuesdays mornings, starting this past August. In the group are about 10 kids, all with different abilities, some are autistic, some are not, but they all learn together and it's great for all the kids to be in that type of setting together.

Through the program, each family is provided services for 6 months and then is to be re-evaluated to see if services are still needed. It goes on every 6 months until they reach 3. Then depending on their progress, they move on to public preschool.

My baby had his re-evaluation about a month ago and they put him at a 19 month level with his speech, which blew my mind. His cognitive was much higher than his real age, and that was never an issue with me. He understands everything. But more importantly, he had gained a years worth of development in 6 months time. Well because he was still behind, but not enough to qualify for an additional 6 months and his home teacher felt he would benefit from 6 more months, we had a speech pathologist come out and evaluate him. She actually put him at about 22 months with his speech, meaning he's only 3 to 4 months behind now.

It makes me feel better knowing all the progress he's made. It's hard for any parent when they think their child is going to struggle in life. Thankfully, it looks like there eventually is going to be a happy ending with my little man, but I know there are kids out there that need a lot more time and attention, and I have so much respect and admiration for those parents.

I had his ears tested, for the hell of it, just to make sure everything was fine. I wasn't really concerned about his ears, but I would have felt like a horrible person if a year from now it turned out it was his ears and I didn't do anything about it. As I thought, his hearing is just fine and all his progress is due to E.I. and I can't thank them enough for all their support. I have come to consider his home teacher a friend, and I know she is someone I will keep in touch with long after he turns 3.